TRURO, N.S. — They competed against each other as children, then forged an unbreakable bond on the ice as young women.
Now, cousins Karlee and Lindsey Burgess are curling once more as rivals – and the stakes are higher than ever for the 2020 New Holland Canadian Juniors competition in British Columbia this month.
“It is a little weird as I’m so used to playing with Karlee, but at the same time it’s no different, because when you’re on the ice you’re dialed in and you are just playing another set of rocks,” said Lindsey. “We’re playing to win.”
Lindsey is the only one of three curlers from Colchester County who is playing as a member of Team Nova Scotia for the upcoming national competition in Langley.
Meantime, Karlee is flying the flag for Manitoba, where she attends school, while Claire Hartlen is playing as a member of Newfoundland’s squad.
Despite the inter-provincial rivalry, Lindsey was pleased her cousin’s team won the Manitoba provincial competition earlier this month.
Karlee attends university in Winnipeg, where she’s studying kinesiology. She completed her provincial competition as a third on Team Zacharias.
However, she has not forgotten her Colchester roots. Karlee was born in Hilden and curled in Truro as a child, together with Lindsey. She has also curled for Team Nova Scotia in six previous national competitions.
Now 21, Karlee is almost ready to move from the junior category into women’s curling.
“I’m still going in as the girl from Truro, but I’m just representing my hometown from the other side of the country,” said Karlee. “I just won’t be wearing the colours.”
The Burgess family has produced a long line of curlers. The cousins’ great-grandparents and grandparents were curlers. Both Karlee’s parents took up the sport and she began herself at just six years old.
Lindsey was born in Williams Lake, B.C., but moved to Truro when she was seven and began curling with her father a year later.
She said curling was a “no-brainer,” given her family’s long pedigree in the sport.
Nor did Lindsey rule out competing for Team Canada as an Olympian one day.
“That’s the top achievement you can make in any sport and I’m striving to achieve it eventually,” said Lindsey.
Karlee said she transferred from Dalhousie University in Halifax to Winnipeg to pursue her own curling career.
While she misses her family and cousin, with whom she bonded closely while playing at home, she has forged similarly strong links with her new Manitoban squad.
“I’ve never really been this far [from home],” said Karlee. “I’ve been really lucky my parents have come to see me.”
Also away from home is 18-year-old Claire Hartlen, who is studying voice at Memorial University in St. John’s.
Hartlen grew up in Truro and started curling when she was 10 under the guidance of her father.
She is currently her team’s lead, throwing the first two rocks and sweeping the ice.
She felt ready for the upcoming nationals, training intensively on weekdays so she can give Team Newfoundland her best game.
“I’m really excited, it’s kinda crazy,” said Hartlen. “I didn’t really think it was going to be a thing for me. I really love the girls I’m curling with, so it’s going to be a blast.”
The 2020 New Holland Canadian Juniors run from Jan. 18 to 26 in Langley, B.C.
